With Tony Fiammetta now in the fold, the Bears will cut tight end Evan Rodriguez, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.

Rodriguez has been arrested twice this offseason, most recently for DUI. While that may not be enough to get a more critical member of the franchise cut, Rodriguez falls in the band of replaceable players about whom an example can be made.

The hiring of Trestman was considered around the league to be an outside-of-the-box choice by Emery. Trestman isn’t a young up-and-coming assistant or a prodigy out of the college ranks. He’s a 57-year-old who spent the past five seasons in the CFL, where he coached the Montreal Alouettes. In fact, his last NFL stint came in 2004 when he served as an assistant to Dave Wannstedt in Miami.

That doesn’t mean he can’t, or won’t, get the job done in Chicago. He’s detail oriented, driven and well-respected in football circles. He’s often cited for his creativity on offense and ability to tutor quarterbacks. Trestman was the Raiders’ offensive coordinator when Rich Gannon was named MVP in 2002.

But can he straighten out the Bears’ offense? Will he connect with Cutler? If he does, Emery will be hailed as a genius. If he doesn’t, well, Emery might end up like Lovie Smith. Fired.

The hiring of Trestman was considered around the league to be an outside-of-the-box choice by Emery. Trestman isn’t a young up-and-coming assistant or a prodigy out of the college ranks. He’s a 57-year-old who spent the past five seasons in the CFL, where he coached the Montreal Alouettes. In fact, his last NFL stint came in 2004 when he served as an assistant to Dave Wannstedt in Miami.

That doesn’t mean he can’t, or won’t, get the job done in Chicago. He’s detail oriented, driven and well-respected in football circles. He’s often cited for his creativity on offense and ability to tutor quarterbacks. Trestman was the Raiders’ offensive coordinator when Rich Gannon was named MVP in 2002.

But can he straighten out the Bears’ offense? Will he connect with Cutler? If he does, Emery will be hailed as a genius. If he doesn’t, well, Emery might end up like Lovie Smith. Fired.

On the other hand Hugh Campbell had no luck moving to Houston with Warren Moon and Mike Riley was a disaster in San Diego.

Don't follow CFL closely but Trestman's Alouettes were perennial contenders even before he came along, I think only one losing season since the franchise was revived in the 90s. Trestman seems like a good coach but some of that success is probably due to their QB, Anthony Calvillo, who's played 15 years and has been the best in the league for most of that time.

Mike Ditka,on advising Brian Urlacher: “My advice would be to put it behind you. Brian has been such a great player for the Bears and an ambassador for the team. Not many guys get to play 13 years for the same team. Usually, when you change GMs and a new regime comes in, they’re going to make tough decisions. Mr. Emery decided that Brian wouldn’t be part of the plan. There’s nothing you can do about it. You know, the game of football was very good to Brian, but it owes him nothing now. You just have to move on.”

Mike Ditka,on advising Brian Urlacher: “My advice would be to put it behind you. Brian has been such a great player for the Bears and an ambassador for the team. Not many guys get to play 13 years for the same team. Usually, when you change GMs and a new regime comes in, they’re going to make tough decisions. Mr. Emery decided that Brian wouldn’t be part of the plan. There’s nothing you can do about it. You know, the game of football was very good to Brian, but it owes him nothing now. You just have to move on.”

On Wednesday, Bears General Manager Phil Emery said that he didn’t anticipate reaching agreement on a contract extension with any of the players entering the 2013 season with an expiring deal.

Emery also said that he hadn’t picked up on any bad vibes from those players, but Emery may not have spoken to kicker Robbie Gould, one of the impending free agents, before making that assessment.

Gould believes that pushing off contract talks would lead to divided motivations as players “have to take care of No. 1.” The kicker also said that he thought the Bears’ approach would wind up costing them more money in the long run — “If they don’t want to re-sign me now it’s going to cost them double at the end of the year — and that it would lead to major changes before the 2014 season.

Lovie Smith was a popular coach in the Bears’ locker room, and when he was fired at the end of last season, many players were disappointed. So as the Bears open their first training camp under new coach Marc Trestman, how are the players responding?

Jay Cutler: “Guys are buying in. Not everybody’s bought in, but that’s OK. We still have a lot of time. Hopefully by the time the first game rolls around, we’ve got everyone on the same page.”

Not that he was going to play much anyway, but Bears defensive tackle Henry Melton’s night came to an early end. The Bears franchise player left with a concussion, and the team announced he won’t return to the game.

BOURBONNAIS, IL—Shrugging his shoulders and scowling, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler told reporters Tuesday that he’s looking forward to proving doubters “completely whatever” in the final year of his contract.

A day after expressing his frustration with his recovery from offseason arthroscopic hip surgery, Chicago Bears receiver Brandon Marshall missed practice Wednesday with what the team described as a previously planned excused absence. Bears coach Marc Trestman said Marshall won't be at the preseason finale against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday and will return to the team on Sunday and practice on Monday.

Trestman: "I'd rather just leave it to personal reasons out of respect to Brandon, but it's all good. As I've said when I let guys go for personal reasons, it's all good, and this is all good. It's not reflected in anything other than I gave him time off. He had a very good practice on Tuesday, he ran well, he ran his routes, he took his reps, he finished. I can't speak for his comments, but what I saw on the field was a guy getting ready to play."

On Tuesday, Marshall indicated the Bears might be pushing a little harder than he'd like as Chicago attempts to prep its star wideout for the Sept. 8 regular-season opener against Cincinnati.

Marshall: "It's one of those things where you may be rushed a little bit, and some people might think I need to be farther on than where I am. So it's a little frustrating not being where I want to be right now, and maybe pushed a little bit. So we'll see."

The entire six-man 2013 draft class and three rookie free agents made the 53-man roster, helping lower the team's average age to 26 years, 296 days. That is 136 days younger than the Week 1 roster from 2012, when the Bears had the seventh-oldest group in the NFL.

Only five picks from the final three drafts of former general manager Jerry Angelo remain on the roster and only 12 total picks from Angelo's regime are still around.

With NFL offenses growing faster each season, the Chicago Bears, in recent years, came up with a plan of their own to slow the league's up-tempo attacks: faking injuries. Brian Urlacher went on to describe how a Bears assistant would mimic a swimmer's diving motion from the sideline to initiate the ploy, which often came on long drives when the defense needed a breather.

Urlacher: "We had a guy who was the designated dive guy. It wasn't coached, but it was part of our game plan."